Improvement in looms



Wi messes Ny PEFERS, PHOTO L naasten EMonrn. nnsrmcs, or PALMER,amssnonnsafrrs, Assrenon To HIMsnLr, EDWIN SAWYEEDANIEL L. THOMPSON, AND CHARLES PERLEY Letters PatentNo. 111,343, dated January 31, 1871.

` iMPRovEiviENT iN Looms.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

` f I, EMonY B. HAsTrNGs, ot Palmer, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, -=liave'in `vented certain Improvements in Looms, fof which the following is a specication.

of fabrics which have waips and wefts of considerable rigidity, such, for instance, as strips of palm-leaf,

rattan, &c. which have to be deposited in the fabric in separate anddetached lengths because -of their rigidity, their-shape, and their want-of continuity,

which prevent them -from being introdncedinto the shed like a continuous exible yarn; `or from forming a good selvagel l Ot' this character is the fabric composed of -a light yarn warp and -a weft of Anarrowstrips of palm-leaf', 'ot'wliich ,Shaker hoods socalled, are-made; also, thel fabric woven fi'om'strips. f rattan or cane for chair-seatin g, and fabrics composed of yarn warps and aweft of reeds, straw, or other similar substances. The loon shown "and described isintended toweavev such goods by power, both when the wefts are served to the loom singly by the hand, and when the wefts are served in a continuous strip so that the supplying lof' the weft to the loom will be automatic, in which case the weft is cut into separate lengths as it is introduced. l Y' My improvements relate, in the rst place, to the l Vmechanism for supplying and introducing the welt into the shed, and consistsv LFirst, in the combination ot a trumpet-mouthed guide to receive the end of the weft, made with a" large opening at the outer end to readily receive the end. of the weft, and tapering-to the small end, which isof a form corresponding to the shape of the weft, so that the end of the weit i'saccurately presented to the nipper, and is also prevented from twisting until `it is delivered into tlie slied; and having a spring or other equivalent device for imposing nplon the strand of weft a sniiicient piessiire to keep the end to be seized in position when it is released by the hand of Athe operator, and also lto produce'a'drag uponthe weft when it is drawn in, to keep it straight; and the shears for cutting oft' length of weft, -while it is heldby the nippers, from a piece of -iiidelinite length.

Second, in the combination and arrangement ofthe nippei for drawing in the we t, the guide for present- 4ing the weft to the nipper, and the shears for severing the length of weft while heldphy the nipper, when thev shears are actuated by the me'chanisinshown, or` :its equivalent, which will operate the shears independently of the movements o't' the lay and nipper, so that the severing of the weft can be done at any timein its progress andwhatever may he the position .ofV the lay.

Third,'in the combination and arrangement of the bed-blade ofI the shears with the mechanism shown, or its equivalent, by which the bed-blade will he rey moved from the position in which it'co-opeiateswith My invention relate's `to certain modifications in the construction of looms to adapt them to thc weaving the movable blade to cut oli' the weft, so that it will he out of the way of the -nippers when they appreach the end ot"tlie'weft` to seize .it while held in the guide.- I

Fourth, in the manner of constructing and oper-at ing the nipper, as will be described.-

Fifth, in the use ot a comb inthe place ot' a reed, theV teeth of which arev inserted between the warps behind the weft, and by a forward motion cari-y the weft to its proper position inthe fabric; and by are- Vversedfinotion the Ateeth are withdrawn froni the warps, leaving 'the shed free for the passage ofthe nippers while the comhis making its backward move- 'ment in a manner to vbe described.

Sixth, in connecting the leaves of heddles to give I their movements in opposite directions, by means of `rackson the ends of each leaf', which engage with the opposite' sides ot' a pinion placed between them.`

Seventh, the combination of' the nipper and the cams for operating the heddles or harness so4 that their motion will be arrested when the shed is closed, and bring thewarps upon the weft whenit is drawn in, and hold it until it is taken by the comb, and then resume their motion to open the next shed.

Description.. I n the drawingi Fignrel is a sideelevatiqn of sol much ot' the loom as exhibits myimprovements.

Figure 2 is a plan ot' the same.

Figure 3 is an end elevation.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section. n Figures 5 and 6 are separate views of some of the parts.

A is the frame ot the loom. f B. is the crank or lay-shaft. i

C is the cam-shaft, upon whichare mounted the cams C', which, through the intervention ofthe levers D androds D', operate the leaves ot' heddles E.

These 'cams are of the foi-in shown, which move the heddles bytwo movements in the saine. direction, with anl interval of lrest between the movements at `the timel that the warps are brought together.

" The leaves of the' heddlcs E are made rigid and las shown. Each leaf may be. Iriatlcof one piece 'of metal Aforming a grid-,fwitli the eyes l or mails iormed inl the bars.

The object of making the' leaves rigid is to guide fthe)varps laterally, so that they will be ,truly presented to the action of. the weft-comb or lay F, to be described.

v rangement the simultaneous moyement of the hed- -as the connecting-rods reciprocate, they Yfirst rock the bar until it is arrested by one of the stops F2, and

the vibrating-levers L at each side of the loom, which have their fnlcrums at.L', in the lower part of A size of the strand.

. c U1, as seen in gs. 2 and (i.

is at U2, upon a bracket, u, attached .to the stock R.

' the weft.

' and nipper It by means of the lever It, to the upper necting-rod Y', from the crank lZ upon the .shaft Zl,

Each leaf of heddles slides vertically in grooves in fixed guides G, on the frame, as seen iniig. 4.

Upon the iusideof each leaf at each end is a rack, E', which engages with the pinion H, which is mounted upon a fixed axis in the guide-frame G, by which ardles inopposite directions is effected.

-The lay F is formed like a comb, the teeth of. which project upward, and is attached to the upper side of the rocking bar F1, which oscillates upon bearings at each end in the slide-box l, which slide in horizontal guides J, upon each side of the frame.

The rocking movement of the bar F1 is produced by the'action of the connecting-rods K, which carry the comb back and forth by reason of their' attachment to the upper edge of the rocking-bar F1, so that,

then push the bar and slide-blocks along to the end of their stroke.

The connecting-rods K are attached to the tops of the frame. l

They receive their motion by means of the slotted connectedrod` M, from the crankN on the crank- The outer end of the connecting-rod M ismade with a slot, N, which embraces the cross-bar O, which connects the levers L.

By the operation of this slot a portion of the motion produced by the crank N is lost, and the comb F and its adjuncts remain for a time at rest at each extremity of their motion.

' 1 is atrumpet-mouthed guide, through which the strands of weft are presented to the nipper R, which draws them into the shed.

The opening at the outer end of the guide l is made large, so-.las to readily insert the end of the strand, but the inner end is made to nearly fit the Upon the upper side of the guide, at the in ner end, the metal is cnt away to receive the spring Q, which rests upon the top of the strand and holds it with a slight-force, sufficient to keep the strand in a position to be seized by the nipper'R without holding it by the hand.

. The nipper 1`t isv made with two bladesor jawsof steel,of the form shown in figs. 3 and 6, which are attached to theA stock R1 which slides back and forth in guides in the frame R2 a suiicient distance to draw the forward end of the weft through the shed'.

f The blades of the nippers'are forced together by their own elasticity, and they are separated by forcing in the block T endwise between them, so that the thicker parts of the block shall come between the projections S S upon the insides of v.the blades.y

The block T is attached to and operated by the rod T1, which extends back through the stock R1, as is shown. This rod is connected wit-h the lever U,'upon the top of the stock R1, by the block T2 and the screw The fulcrnm of this lever The outer end of this lever, as the stock moves back and forth, comes in contact with the stops W W', which are attached to the frame R2, as shown, to open the nipper at the propertimes to receive and deliver The stop W is made to be adjusted to the length of the we1t,o,r to the position-of the ni'pper at which it is desired to release the weft from it'.

The reciprocating `motion is given to the stock R1 end of which the .stock R1 is connected, and the conwhich receives an equal motion from the lay-shaft B by means of the ruiter-gears Z2 upon said shaft.

To the slide-block I is attached the bed-plate c of the shears; and the movable blade d, which co-oper aies with the same, is attached to the lever e. lThis lever andblade (l are raised by the cam f upon the shaft Z1, by means of the sliding rod g,- and when this rpd leaves the outer end ofthe incline of the cam the lever e and blade l drop, and their velocity is accelerated by the spring-h., which causes ythe blade d to sever the strand of wett instantly.

Thepoint at which the cutting off shall take plac in drawing in the weft is determined bythe setting of the cam f upon its shaft so as to let the blade d fall at any desired point in the motion of the nipper.

i is the warp-beam or roller, which is provided with as many scores or compartments as there are warps to be used, and in' which the several warps are wound if they are composed of yarn.

jj are the warp-delivering rollers, which control the delivery of the warps. The warps are held by compression between these rollers and the rubber-coated roller k which lies between them, and is pressed upon both bythe set-screws k', which rest upon the boxes in which s aidroller revolves. This arrangement of the let-olf rollers is intended to control thedelivery of the warps whether they are wound upon the'beam c' or not, which might be the case in weaving with vwarps made of strips of rattan.

' y most convenient.

When it-is desirable. to use a positive take-up,7 it is preferable to make the lower roller solid. rL he upper roller Z' is made with'a thick covering'of India rubber, and is forced upon the lower roller b y the setscrews on. whichrest upon its boxes.

The rollers are turned to take up th'e fabric as woven by the ratchet n, pawl o, alithlevcr p, from the double throw-cam q on the cam-shaft C, in a manuel' similar to what is usually done in looms.

The use of the rubber coverings for one or both of the take-up and let-off rollers.adapts them particularly to the` weaving of fabrics which vhave the warps or wefts made of nnyieldingv material such as are intended to be used in this loom, as the soft rubber surfacesof the rollers allow the unequalities of i thesurface of the warps or fabric to imbed themselves in the rubber and take a rm. /hold of the rollers by being simply compressed between them,and without injury to the goods or requiring them to be bent .around the rollers, as is usually done to keep them from slipping, while the resilience of the covering restores it toits cylindrical shape as soon as the goods are out of contact with it. For this reason t-he rubber coveringsshould have considerable thickness.

Many ofthe details of construction, which are similar tothose usually employed in looms, are not shown or described, as theydo not constitute any part of my invention; nor are my improvements confined to any particular construction of those old parts, but may be used with va variety of forms of them; and I have therefore shown only so much of the operative parts of a loom as explains the constructonand operation of my improvements.

The operation of the loom is as follows: The warp being properly placed in the loom, the end of the weft, which in this case is supposed to be of indefinite length, is inserted in the guide l. The hedy At this point the block T will have passed by the the length of weft, while the remaining part ol' the strand is heldin the guideby the spring Q.

By this time the .heddles will have made the first part of their movement aud closed thewarps upon the weft and nipper-bladeswhich hohl the weft'straight and in place' after it'is cut off. j v The nipper coutinues'hs movement withV the length of weft until its forward end is drawn through the shed, at which timerthe leverU will have encountered the stop W,wl1ich will again force the block T be tween the projections S'S upon the blades of the nipper and open it, and release the weft, while the nipper passes on to complete its stroke.-

When the weft is deposited in the shed,'the levers L and-'rods K will have commencedtheir forward movement; and' their first effect is to Vturn up the comb from its backward-inclined position to a verticalone, when itsfurther rotation is arrested bythe stop Fzwith its teeth standingv upright between the warps,

and behind the lengt-hoi' weft just deposited; .The

continuation of the' movement ofthe rods K carries the comb forward in .this position,'with the weft be-A fore it, and deposits it in. the fabric,y l -By this time the shed will be opened and the nip.- per again enters it, and .thecomb commences to go back; and its rst'movemeut is to rock backward uutil it meets' the stops Fz on the. slide-blocks I, which carries the teeth of thel comb out of `and below the 'warps, and `th e n carries the comb back below the warps and nippe'r` and beyondthe latter,when Vitfis ready to repeat the operation. v i

4Bythis means I am enabled tomove the nipper by ac ontinuons crankinotion, which gives much greater rapidity to the operation ofthe loom than when the nipper is worked by a'cam with interrupted motions; and also gives great ease to the .working of the parts, and great simplicity iii construction. 'i

" In weaving with wefts which have been previously 'cut-tof length, the shears (l would not be used; but

each strand would be inserted into the guide? by the :hand of an attendant.` But in weaving with rattan, the

At this instant -the rod vg., which raises the shearsblade (l, drops from .the outer fend of the incline ofthe cam f and instantly cuts oii' scribed.

strands of whichare several times longer than a single weft, or where the strands are spliced together so as to make a continuous strand,-the shears would be use and the supply of weft 'would be automatic.

. Claims.

-What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination ofthe guide, having aspring for producing pressure upon the weft to hold it therein;- and the shears for cuttingV olf the weft while it is held by the nippers, when all are constructed and arranged substantially as described. y

2. The combinationand arraugementof the nipper,

the shears, andthe guide, when the shearsare operblade is moved `out of the way of the .nipper when it Y seizes the weft, and returns to co-operatewith the movable blade at the proper time, substantially as de- 4. The combination of the lever U and stops W' W with the uipper, when all are constructed and arranged substantially as described. y .p '5. The combination of the nippel'4 and its adjuucts with the crankfor operating the same, which works independently of that which operates the comb, through' the intervention of the intermediate devices o1' their equivalent, substantially as described.

6. The comb for beating up theweft, having both theA reciprocating and rocking motions, constructed and operating substantially as described..

. 7. 'lhc'combinatiou of two' leaves of heddles havingY racks upon each-end of them, as described, andan intermediate pinion that l engages with bothxof them,

isubstantallyas described. 

